consume

verb

con·​sume kən-ˈsüm 

consumed; consuming

transitive verb

1

: to do away with completely : destroy

Fire consumed several buildings.

2

a

: to spend wastefully : squander

consumed his inheritance on luxuries

b

: use up

Writing consumed much of his time.

3

a

: to eat or drink especially in great quantity

consumed several bags of pretzels

b

: to enjoy avidly : devour

… mysteries, which she consumes for fun …

—Eden Ross Lipson

4

: to engage fully : engross

consumed with curiosity

5

: to utilize as a customer

consume goods and services

intransitive verb

1

: to waste or burn away : perish

2

: to utilize economic goods

Synonyms

• devour
• eat (up)

Examples of consume in a Sentence

The new lights consume less electricity.

She's making an effort to live more simply and consume less.

Hundreds of books were consumed in the fire.

Recent Examples on the Web

To say consuming the fruits of production adds to economic growth similarly amounts to double counting. —John Tamny, Forbes, 4 Sep. 2024

Though fifty-four per cent of Latino adults get their news mostly in English, according to Pew Research, there are still millions who prefer to consume the news in Spanish (twenty-four per cent of the total Latino population) or consume it in both English and Spanish (twenty-three per cent). —Graciela Mochkofsky, The New Yorker, 4 Sep. 2024

The advent of the compact disc (CD) in 1982 also upended the way music was consumed, offering higher sound quality and durability compared to vinyl records and cassette tapes. —Spin Staff, SPIN, 4 Sep. 2024

France, which tends to lean in to Burton and Keaton, also doesn’t release until next week, given that kids are consumed with going back to school this session. —Nancy Tartaglione, Deadline, 3 Sep. 2024

Word History

Etymology

Middle English, from Middle French or Latin; Middle French consumer, from Latin consumere, from com- + sumere to take up, take, from sub- up + emere to take — more at sub-, redeem

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined at transitive sense 1

Kids Definition

consume

verb

con·​sume kən-ˈsüm 

consumed; consuming

1

: to destroy by or as if by fire

2

: use up, spend

the search consumed most of our time

3

: to eat or drink up

consumed too much ice cream

4

: to take up the interest or attention of

was consumed with curiosity

5

: to use as a customer

consume goods

consumable

-ˈsü-mə-bəl

adjective